1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a pushcart and a baby carriage. More particularly, the present invention relates to a foldable pushcart that is reduced in size in front-back and width directions when folded, and a foldable baby carriage that is reduced in size in height and width directions when folded. Note that the term “pushcart” has a broad meaning including a baby carriage, a load-carrying cart, and the like.
2. Description of the Background Art
A baby carriage that is reduced in size in height and width directions when folded is disclosed in, for example, Japanese Utility Model Publication No. S45 (1970)-13549 of examined applications and Japanese Patent Publication No. H07 (1995)-12824 of examined applications. The baby carriages disclosed in these publications are structured so that a pair of push bars extending in an up-down direction are bendable forward to a pair of front legs extending in the up-down direction, whereby the height in the folded state is reduced. The baby carriages are also reduced in size in a width direction when folded. In order to enable such reduction in size in the width direction, a pair of rear legs and the pair of push bars are connected to each other by a back cross member formed by two bar members that cross each other in an X shape.
The baby carriages disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Publication No. S45 (1970)-13549 of examined applications and Japanese Patent Publication No. H07 (1995)-12824 of examined applications are structured so that the pair of push bars are bendable forward in order to reduce the height in the folded state. Another type of a baby carriage is disclosed in, for example, Japanese National Phase Publication Nos. 2001-525291 and 2005-522372 of PCT applications. In the baby carriages disclosed in these publications, the height in the folded state of the baby carriage is reduced by moving a pair of push bars downward along a pair of front legs.
In the baby carriages disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Publication No. S45 (1970)-13549 of examined applications and Japanese Patent Publication No. H07 (1995)-12824 of examined applications, an upper part of the back cross member is connected to the back of the pair of push bars. It is therefore difficult to provide a backrest portion located between the pair of push bars in a reclinable manner.
In such a baby carriage having sliding push bars as disclosed in Japanese National Phase Publication Nos. 2001-525291 and 2005-522372 of PCT applications, there is no member that becomes an obstacle on the back of the pair of push bars. It is therefore possible to provide a backrest portion in a reclinable manner. From this standpoint, it can be said that a baby carriage having sliding push bars is preferable. In a baby carriage having sliding push bars, however, it is difficult to provide a back cross member, that connects a pair of push bars with a pair of rear legs. Improvement is therefore required for such a baby carriage to reduce the size in the width direction in the folded state.
Japanese National Phase Publication No. 2005-522372 of PCT applications does not include any description regarding reduction in size of the baby carriage in the width direction in the folded state. Japanese National Phase Publication No. 2001-525291 of PCT applications describes that the baby carriage is reduced in size in the width direction when folded, but does not describe any specific structure to implement such size reduction.